NEWTON'S LAWS

LAB REPORT
AP Physics 1
BY

Witchayut Ngarmpornchai

Miss Susana Alulod

Mahidol University International
 Demonstration School Semester 1
Academic year 2018-2019
 Objective

To determine the acceleration

of the object moving down the

inclined plane by using the

Kinematic Equations and the

Newton's Laws of Motion.

 Introduction
          The Kinematic Equations is a set of equations

that can be applied to solve for time, displacement,

acceleration, initial velocity and final velocity of an

object. The object needs to undergo a constant

acceleration. If the acceleration is not constant,

meaning changing direction or magnitude, then the

Kinematic Equations is invalid.

          Newton's Laws of Motion are three physical

laws that, together, laid the foundation for classical

mechanics. They describe the relationship between a

body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in

response to those forces. The first law states that if

there is no external force, then the object will

maintain its motion. The second law describes that the

sum of all force is equal to mass multiply by

acceleration. This is because the acceleration is

directly proportional to the net force and inversely

proportional to the mass of the object. The third law

reveals that the when the first object exerts a force to

the second object, the second object will also exert a

force, equal in magnitude, to the first object.

         In this lab, the cart will fall down from a

frictionless track, with an angle with respect to the

floor. So, there is a net force that makes the cart start

to move down the track and also by recording the time

that the cart takes to pass a certain distance. There is

enough information to determine the acceleration of

the cart by utilizing the Newton's Second Law and the

Kinematic Equations. The acceleration calculates by

both method should be the same or very close value.

The Kinematic Equations

Materials

Frictionless Track
Cart 
Jack Lift
Stopwatch
Ruler
Stop Mark
Soft Sponge
 Procedure
1. Set up the track for the cart and lift one end of the track with an
inclined angle. Used the track holder to hold the higher end of the track.

2. Put a soft sponge at the other end of the track to let it acts as a cart
stopper.

3. Install two indicators on the track; one at the 80cm point, another one
at the 140cm point.

4. Start your trial by putting your cart on the higher end of the track.
Make sure you indicated your starting point at 20cm point.

5. Release the cart from the starting point. Start your timer as you
release the cart.

6. Stop the timer as the cart passed the 80cm point and 140cm point
respectively. Record your time on the data table.

7. Repeat step 5 and 6 four more times

8. Calculate acceleration and inclined angle from the data you collected
using:
Newton’s Second Law
The Kinematic Equations
Data & Result
 Analysis
          As the data prove that, the rate of change

in distance per time is not the same by the cart

cover the same distance faster than it did before.

This reveals that there is a change in cart velocity

as it moving down by it velocity is increasing.

Hence, there is an acceleration. The acceleration

can be calculated by applying both the Kinematic

Equations or Newton's Second Law.

          There is the difference between the

acceleration find by using Newton's Second Law

and the Kinematic equations, which is an error.

However, it is only a slight difference caused by

the error during measuring the time the cart is at

a specific distance. The possible solution to

minimize the error value is performed more

trails. So, the result will be more accurate.

 Conclusion
         From the experiment, it can be

concluded that if there is a change in

velocity: either increasing or decreasing, then

there is an acceleration. Also, in order to find

the acceleration of an object moving down an

inclined plane by using Newton's Second

Law the mass of the object is not required.

The only information needed is the angle that

the object is moving. Likewise, the

Kinematic Equations the information that is

demanded is the distance and the time it takes

the object covering the distance. The

limitation of the Kinematic Equations is its

only valid in case of constant acceleration.

Recommendation

          In this experiment, there is an

error measuring the exact time that

the cart is at a certain distance. Thus,

the measured time is not accurate.

Therefore, the next time it is better to

perform more trails and uses better

equipment to record the time, so the

result will be more accurate and

reliable.
 References
What are the kinematic formulas? (n.d.). Retrieved
from
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/on
e-dimensional-motion/kinematic-
formulas/a/what-are-the-kinematic-formulas

Newton's laws of motion. (2018, August 24).

Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_mo
tion